Aboard the almighty ARGO I

By Ross M. Ireland, The “Gobbler King”
Contributing Writer to The New York Outdoorsman Central

Lake Ontario King Salmon Fishing

Going fishing for Salmon, no matter how you put it, has a great shot at being a day you may never forget. Although I have been fishing several times for Salmon in Oswego County, I was overly excited to get out on my first Salmon Charter. An old friend who has been fishing Salmon for many years contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying my luck on Lake Ontario. Jason was eager to show me, what he has shown others for decades, how to catch big fish!

TSI Charters is owned and operated by Joseph Orsen, but Joe gets a lot of help from brother Jason, and father Joseph Sr. This team of fisherman has over 50 years experience fishing for Salmon out of the Oswego Harbor. Not only are they some of the nicest people you will ever meet, but they know how to find the fish too!

Due to an unusual weather situation, we did not leave the harbor until after 8am, and finally started to fish a little before 9. The majority of the time you go fishing you will leave much earlier, however on this day neither the weatherman nor the captain new what the weather was going to do. That is one thing that stood out about this charter, they won’t take you out in bad weather due to the obvious, but typically the fishing isn’t good either when the weather is iffy.

One factor I never realized about fishing for salmon on a charter was how much preparation there is just to start fishing. All of the poles needed to be rigged up which took about 20 minutes and had several different steps just to get them ready. TSI Charters chose to put out 3 down riggers all around 100 feet deep along with 2 dipsy divers, which were also around 100 feet down. We were fishing in an average of 280-320 feet with the majority of the fish hitting the dipsies rather than the down riggers.

The color of choice this day was a green, or a watermelon flasher with a multicolor vibrant green fly, made especially for Salmon. Joseph actually ties these flies especially for the month of August, and the fish seemed to really hammer them.

After trolling around a well mapped out area thanks to the Fish Hawk GPS the ARGO I was equipped with, we finally hooked up at 11:45. I was ASTONISHED at how fast these salmon can strip what looked like a saltwater reel filled with 20-pound test. In seconds the first salmon had ran over 100 feet straight down before I could bring him to a halt. Jason walked me through the proper way to pull up the rod and reel it down in order to gain ground on this mammoth of a fish. After five minutes in which my left bicep felt like a shredded can of tuna, I finally saw the dipsy and knew the Salmon was right behind it. At this point I wasn’t sure who was more excited, Jason, his dad, or myself. In my mind I had this 20+ pounder landed when he ran into the back of the boat and cut the line. This is when my stomach dropped and I said to myself ” I just lost the one I wanted for the smoker.” Immediately the excitement turned to sorrow as we were defeated by one lucky King Salmon. It had taken almost 3 hours to hook one fish, and with other charters having similar luck, all I could think was “did I just loose the only hungry fish in the lake?”

With in 20 minutes Joseph Sr. had us on another fish, which I landed in less than one minute and was told it was the smallest salmon they have ever landed. This immature fish was thrown back for another day. I was now much more excited than I was the first 2 hours and could not wait for the next hog to bite the fly.

Within the next hour or so we hooked 4 more fish which all were landed but one, the biggest weighting in at 22lbs and a perfect size for the smoker.

The excitement that the Jason and Joe showed when I was reeling in the Salmon was overwhelming. Dad was giving son instructions on landing them, son was giving dad instructions on where to find more of them, and I was smiling fighting them.

Aboard the ARGO I you will not only catch fish, you will enjoy the atmosphere of the folks chartering it as well. The Orsen family doesn’t hesitate to feed you snacks, give you information about equipment, and even a little comedy between father and son too. I want to send out a special thanks to Jason and Joe who truly made my day out on Lake Ontario a special one (even after fishing too). Anyone that is looking for couple of great guys who will show you how to catch these fish that can reach 30 plus pounds on Lake Ontario, they still have a few days left this year, and plenty of bookings available for next year. Please contact the Orsens For Reservations: (315) 877-6755 or info@tsicharters.com